Sam Aldridge
Read: Ex 15:1-21; 2 Sam 6:12-23
As long as the People of God have existed, there has been music. From Moses and Miriam in their jubilant praise, to David’s “undignified” half-naked dancing, to Jesus and the disciples sharing a hymn at the close of the last supper (Matthew 26:30), music flows from the pages of the biblical text. It accompanies both the emotional highs of victory and salvation as well as the moments of struggle, questioning and lament (Ezekiel 19); and its absence even gets noted as a mark of severe grief in the face of torment (Psalm 137:1-6). The musical interludes of the bible are like an emotional map of our journey as God’s people: narrative and teaching alone are not able to capture the fullness of our experience of redemption and love that comes from the Creator breaking into creation for our sake. To quote twentieth century composer Gustav Mahler, “If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.”
This musical expression is not limited to the pages of our holy text either; for all of church history our wrestling with divine love has produced volume upon volume of musical expression. Whether it be the cyclic masses of the fourteenth century, the motets of Tallis, the beauty of Allegri’s Miserere, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s passions, Wesley’s hymns, negro spirituals, Bill Gaither, DC Talk, Delirious?, Hillsong or Lauren Daigle, in our finite capacity we do our best to express the infinite love of God, knowing that we will never be able to sufficiently do so. Music thus testifies to our active wrestling with a living God. We are not academic philosophers simply giving our latest defense of why there must be a God. We are not systematic theologians trying to tie up every loose end so that we can claim that we have “the answers.” We are the living people of God, experiencing a Holy Spirit at work, and journeying with the redeeming Creator.
TIME FOR REFLECTION
• What piece of music has been important in your walk with Jesus? What makes it stand out?
• Is your faith one of living experience or dry intellectualism? How do you express that in your walk with God, either in music or beyond music?
• How might you broaden your experience of music to help broaden your experience with God?
Suggested Sacred Music Highlights from various periods (in Chronological order):
• Thomas Tallis – Spem In Alium – Spem In Alium (Thomas Tallis) – Tallis Scholars – YouTube
• Palestrina – Kyrie from Missa Papae Marcelli Kyrie – Missa Papae Marcelli – Palestrina – YouTube
• Gregorio Allegri – Miserere – Allegri – Miserere mei, Deus – YouTube 40 DAYS of PRAYER
• Bach – St. Matthew’s Passion – Bach – St Matthew Passion BWV 244 – Van Veldhoven | Netherlands Bach Society – YouTube
• Handel – Messiah – Handel Messiah Stephen Cleobury Academy of Ancient Music The Choir of King’s College Cambridge – YouTube
• Charles Wesley – And Can it Be – And Can it be That I should Gain – YouTubeMessiaen
• Chuck Girrard – Slow Down – Slow Down – YouTube • Central American Folk Tune – Sent by the Lord am I – St Michael’s Chiswick Virtual Choir – Sent by the Lord am I – YouTube
• DC Talk – Jesus Freak – DC Talk – Jesus Freak (Original Video) – YouTube
• Newsboys – Shine – Newsboys-Shine – YouTube
• Chris Tomlin – How Great is Our God (World Edition) – Chris Tomlin – How Great Is Our God (World Edition. Live. Passion 2012) – YouTube
• I wander as I wander (Simon Khorolskiy cover) – I Wonder As I Wander – Epic Version! – YouTube
